Writer, Spiritual Director
Tennis courts and a swimming pool, a climbing wall, zip line, and rope swing were prime Saturday afternoon draws at our church’s recent family weekend at the Alpine Camp for Boys in Mentone, Alabama. All through the forested grounds, kids (and adults, too) played hard, laughed freely, and were getting dirty. Kids aged 4-14 stood waiting… Continue reading The Jump
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Rom 8:22 Unexpectedly and painfully, my Lenten practice this year has become that of active participation in the groaning of creation that Paul describes in Romans 8. Early in March, driving up the street towards… Continue reading Groaning with Creation in Lent
January 6 is the day we celebrate as Epiphany, the beginning of a season in the church for us to pause and reflect on the ways in which God shows himself, allows his presence and work to be noticed. Historically, the church has focused specifically on several showings: the improbable arrival of the gift-bearing magi to… Continue reading Epiphany
I was eighteen and just finished high school. In early October, I drove home from Bible school for Canadian Thanksgiving. Already, in the small, northern Alberta town where my parents lived, darkness fell early in the day. On this evening, my old boyfriend and I made plans to meet for a conversation. He (I’m sure)… Continue reading The Window
Pop. My thumb and forefinger press open the tip of the pea pod picked just this morning. Down the firm pod’s length my thumb drags the shell apart, crackling, to expose the peas in their matching rows. Now my thumb rolls out the peas to tumble - ping, ping - into a blue glass bowl.… Continue reading A Fruitful Place
The spring melt here in southern Saskatchewan came finally despite a ridiculously huge and much resented snowstorm on April 20. Along the highway north of our city, water filled roadside ditches and spread across fields, turning farmhouses into “lakeside property.” At last, the sky rang with the calls of flocks of geese. Outdoors, people walked… Continue reading Spring
“You’re 40! You’re 40! You’re 40! You. Are. 40! YOU are the oldest person in this house! And next year, you’ll be 41!” The staccato phrases burst from Evan’s mouth. He bounced up and down on his toes, his excitement palpable, hands clapping, then clasped tightly as he leaned eagerly forward to look me full… Continue reading Birthdays
The older, bearded fellow with whom we chatted while walking off the Wolfe Island ferry strode quickly towards where Emily and I waited below the “Ferry Shuttle” sign. A few minutes earlier, he had explained that we would catch the school bus/shuttle by waiting where we stood between the shed and the bathroom. Now he… Continue reading Wolfe Island
The window of our guest room here in the Texas hill country looks out through tree cover of cedar and oak to the hills and blue sky. With the grey of morning I rise, curious and expectant as when I was a child who couldn’t wait to go and play. The world outside the window,… Continue reading Half-finished Books
Two years ago my beloved husband began swimming again. From ages 6-15 he swam competitively for swim clubs in Regina and in North Battleford, mornings and afternoons, practicing for hours and miles a day. He swam well, too, even swimming against the likes of Olympian Alex Baumann, who finished, of course, far, far ahead of… Continue reading Deep Diving
Darlene Pinter 